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The Last Stand Of The 300

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The Last Stand Of The 300
The History Channel
Mechanism Digital
Lucien Harriot: Founder, VFX Supervisor
Plug-in(s) Used: Magic Bullet Suite

Watch Select Scenes at Limulus Production's web site

Magic Bullet Suite Used To Finish The History Channel's

"The Last Stand Of The 300"

Mechanism Digital, one of New York's largest 3D animation studios, produces a large amount of in-show programming for The History Channel, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic, as well as show opens and graphics packages.

Most recently, Mechanism Digital wrapped production of 840 VFX shots for "Last Stand of the 300" a two-hour special directed by David W. Padrusch, a Limulus Production (www.limulusproductions.com) which depicts the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

The TV show was broadcast on The History Channel at the same time as the Warner Bros. movie, "300" hit cinemas. With the help of Magic Bullet Suite, Lucien Harriot, Founder / VFX Supervisor at Mechanism Digital was able to color correct the TV show to make it look like the film.

Challenge

Rather than build sets Mechanism Digital encouraged the director to shoot the entire program on greenscreen and treat The History Channel documentary similar to the movie "300" for a hyper-dream like style for a subtle cross-marketing synergy. To do this, Mechanism generated 3D backgrounds of Athens, Marathon, and the Battle of Thermopylae, together with live action compositing for a strikingly realistic re-creation. However, Harriot needed a way to color correct the scenes in Athens, Marathon, and the Pass at Thermopylae to match the look in "300."

Solution

David Padrusch, Director / Executive Producer at Limulus Productions, had used Magic Bullet frequently in the past and thought it might work well for this project. Mechanism Digital worked closely with David and Marc Etkind Director of Programming at The History Channel to choose presets for different locations and apply them to the specific shots.

Mechanism Digital employed 12 seats of After Effects in an assembly line fashion. They first broke up the edit into individual clips, some of which were only a couple of seconds long. Then they keyed the background greenscreen. Next, they replaced the background from a library of approved color palates for each location.

"Each palate had been applied with a Magic Bullet preset and then adjusted to further refine the look. We wanted to help people know visually where the scene was taking place and whether they were looking North to South or South to North. Once the palates were completed they were motion tracked (if necessary) and then sent to the render farm. After which, the converted frame sequences were sent compiled into movies," said Lucien Harriot.

Results

"Our clients love the creative freedom we are able to achieve with Magic Bullet Suite. We've been told video is their new friend because of the ability to make the footage look like film. The rich textured imagery is like nothing our clients have seen before. The presets are a great way to start. We almost always further tweak the settings for just the right feel for the project," continued Lucien Harriot.

Watch Select Scenes at Limulus Production's web site